Fabric draw-off means for knitting machines



1966 H- E. HAEHNEL 3,269,150

FABRIC DRAW-OFF MEANS FOR KNITTING MACHINES Filed Aug. 5, 1964 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 F11 E l INVENTOR. Herbert E. Haehne/ BY l/A/Q ATTORNEY.

Aug. 30, 1966 H. E. HAEHNEL 3,269,150

FABRIC DRAW-OFF MEANS FOR KNITTING MACHINES Filed Aug. 5 1964 2 Sheets-$heet 2 P .1. 51.5 "I I INVENTOR. Herbert E. Hae/m e/ BY M/QZM A TTORNE Y.

United States Patent 3,269,150 FAERHC DRAW-(EFF MEANS FOR KNITTING MACHENES Herbert E. Haehnel, Reading, Pa, assignor to 'iextiie Ma= chine Works, Wyomissing, Pa, a corporation of Pennsylvania Filed Aug. 3, 1964, Ser. No. 387,009

8 Claims. (Cl. 66-449) This invention relates to straight bar or full-fashioned knitting machines and more particularly to draw-off mechanism for such machines for tensioning and taking up fabrics knitted thereon.

In machines for knitting full-fashioned fabric blanks for outerwear such as sweaters and the like, the blanks as they are knitted are tensioned by draw-otf or take-up means which is in the form of a welt engaging rod when the blanks are provided with turned welt portions or a bar having hooks which are engaged with starting courses of the blanks or with preformed welt portions to which the blanks are knitted and the welt rod or hook bar is connected by straps to a reel mounted on a reel shaft which is rotated in the take-up direction by weights or the like in a common manner. As the fabric blank is formed the straps and eventually the welt rod or hook bar and fabric is wound up on the reel with one or more layers of the blank overlying the welt rod or hook bar. Following completion of the blank it is pressed or knit off the needles of the machine and the reel shaft is rotated in a reverse direction to unwind the layers of fabric from the reel and the blank is then disengaged from the welt rod or hook bar and removed from the machine. When the welt rod is the fabric engaging means no difficulty is encountered in unwinding and removing the blank from the reel. However, when the hook bar is the fabric engaging means, the additional layers of the blank wound upon the hook bar are usually pierced by the books on the bar and each layer must then be disengaged from the hooks as the reel shaft and reel is rotated in the reverse direction before the blank may be removed from the machine. This procedure is not only time consuming and adds to the production costs of the blanks but also sometimes results in damage to the blanks during disengagement of the hooks therefrom.

The principal object of the instant invention is to provide a fabric draw-off means for a straight or full-fashioned knitting machine which will overcome the above noted and other difiiculties heretofore encountered in prior fabric draw-off means.

A further object of the invention is the provision of a fabric draw-off means for a straight bar knitting machine which draw-off means includes a rotatable reel member having means which is operated to engage and tension the fabric and then disengaged from the fabric during each rotative movement of the reel member.

A still further object of the invention is the provision of fabric draw-off means in a full-fashioned machine which draw-off means includes a rotatable reel member having rows of hook members spaced circumferentially around the reel member and means for moving the rows of hook members from retracted positions within the reel member to projected positions beyond the outer surface of said reel member to engage and tension the fabric during a portion of each rotative movement of the reel member and to again move said rows of hook members to said retracted positions to disengage said hook members from the fabric during another portion of each rotative movement of said reel member.

With these and other objects in view, which will become apparent from the following detailed description of the illustrative embodiments of the invention shown in the Ce Patented accompanying drawings, the invention resides in the novel elements of construction, mechanisms and combination of parts in cooperative relationship as hereinafter more particularly pointed out in the claims.

In the accompanying drawings:

FIG. 1 is a cross-sectional view taken transversely through a full-fashioned knitting machine having mechanism according to the invention applied thereto;

FIG. 2 is a view of the reel mechanism of FIG. 1 as seen looking in the direction indicated by the arrow 2;

FIG. 3 is an isometric view of a portion of the reel mechanism of FIG. 2;

FIG. 4 is a view on an enlarged scale of a portion of the reel mechanism of FIG. 2 but having the outer shell broken away to more clearly show operating parts thereof;

FIG. 5 is a cross-sectional view taken along the line 5-5 of FIG. 3 and looking in the direction indicated by the arrows; and

FIG 6 is a cross-sectional view taken along the line 6-6 of FIG. 3 and looking in the direction indicated by the arrows.

Referring to the drawings and more particularly to FIG. 1 there is shown a portion of a multisection full-fashioned knitting machine including a bed member 10 forming a part of the usual framework of the machine and loop forming elements such as sinkers v12, knockover bits 13 and needles 15 which are operated in the usual manner to knit yarns into fabric blanks 17 for outerwear garments such as sweaters and the like. Also shown is a conventional type fabric draw-off device 16 including a bar 18 having a series of hooks 19 for attachment to the starting courses of the fabric blank 17 knitted on each section of the machine, straps 29 which are connected between the bar 18 and a reel member 21 secured to a draw-off shaft 22 supported for rotation in the framework of the machine in well known manner. The shaft 22 is adapted to be rotated in a clockwise or draw-01f direction, as viewed in :FIG. 1, by weights 23 or the like in a common manner to tension and take up the fabric blanks 17 as they are knitted.

In the usual practice the hooks 1 of bar 18 associated with each knitting section are attached to one of the starting courses of the fabric blank and the bar 18 is then carried in the draw-off direction to take up the fabric blank as it is knitted by the straps 20 as the latter are wound up on the reel members 21 on draw-off shaft 22. As knitting of the fabric blank continues the bar 18 and fabric is wound up on the reel member 21 with each layer of fabric Wound on the reel being pierced by the hooks 19 on the bar '18. Following completion of the fabric blank it is knit or pressed off the needles 15 and the draw-elf shaft 22 is then rotated in reverse direction to unwind the fabric layers from the reel members and each layer of fabric as it is unwound must also be disengaged from the hooks '19 before the fabric blank is removed from the machine.

In order to avoid the time consuming procedure heretofore required to remove the completed fabric blanks from the machine, tension is applied to the blanks by the bars 18 of the draw-off device 16 through only a portion of blank knitting cycle and tensioning of the blanks is then transferred to a second draw-off device '24 which is adapted to engage and tension the blank and then release the blank at completion of the blank knitting cycle.

The draw-off device 24 includes an outer pair of reel sections 26 and an inner pair of reel sections 27 (FIG. 2) for each knitting section of the machine which are secured on a shaft 25, as hereinafter set forth, mounted for rotation in the framework of the machine intermediate the loop forming elements and draw-01f shaft 22 as shown in FIG. 1. The shaft 25 is adapted to be rotated in the take-up direction by weights 28 or the like in the same manner as shaft \22. Each of the reel sections 26 and 27 is provided with rows of fabric engaging hook members 29 which are spaced circumferentially around the reel sections. The hook members 29 are adapted to be moved outwardly along an arcuate path through openings 33 in the reel sections from retracted positions therein to projected positions beyond the outer surface of the reel sections to engage and draw off the fabric 17 and the hook members are again withdrawn along an arcuate path to retracted positions within the reel sections to release the fabric by means of and in a manner hereinafter set forth. The hook members 29 when moving from their projected to their retracted position will release the fabric into an upper funnnel shaped portion '30 of a fabric receiving receptacle 31 ('FIG. 2) for eventual deposit into a troughlike portion 32 of the receptacle. The receptacle 31 is suspended below the device 24 by strap hangers 35 secured to the bed member 10 by screws 36. :Fixed to the upper portion 30 of the receptacle 31, adjacent the reel sections, are stripping bars 37 which assist in stripping the fabric from the hook members 29 as they are moved to their retracted position.

Except for differences in length, as indicated in FIG. 2, the outer and inner reel sections 26 and 27 are identical and each section includes an outer shell 41) formed of upper and lower halves 41 and 42, respectively, which are secured by screws 45 to flanges 46. Flanges 46 are secured in spaced relationship on the shaft 25 for rotation therewith by set screws 47 (FIGS. 4 and Mounted in the flanges 46 for oscillating movement are rods 50 which are held against axial movement relative to the flanges by snap-rings 49 carried in grooves in the rods to engage outer faces of the flanges at opposite ends of the rods as shown in FIG. 4. Each of the rods 50, which are six in number, carries one of the rows of the hooks 29 hereinbefore referred to, the hooks being secured to the rods by screws 51.

The rods 50 are oscillated in the flanges 46 to move the hook members between their projected and retracted positions by levers 52 which are secured to the right ends of certain of the rods and to the left ends of the other rods. The levers 52 at the right ends of the rods have follower portions 55 extending toward the right for engagement with a cam 56 at the right end of the reel sections and levers 52 at the left ends of the other rods have follower portions 66 extending toward the left for engagement with a cam 61 at the left end of the reel sections (FIG. 4). The cams 56 and 61 at the right and left ends of the reel sections, respectively, are secured by screws 62 to brackets 65 which are in turn secured as by screws 66 to a shaft 67 carried in brackets 70 mounted on the bed member (FIGS. 1 and 3). Encircling each rod 50 in close proximity to one of the flanges 46 is a spring 71 having one end thereof fixed to the flange by a screw 72 and having the other end thereof acting on an extended portion 75 of a lever 76 fixed on the rod. The springs 71, acting through levers 76, normally bias the rods 50 clockwise as viewed in FIG. 6 to maintain the follower portions of levers 52 in engagement with the respective cams 56 and 61.

The cams 56 and 61 are identical in shape and each cam has a high surface 77 which acts on levers 52 to turn or oscillate the rods 50 clockwise as viewed in FIG. 1, and counterclockwise as viewed in FIG. 5, to project the hooks 29 through the apertures 33 in the reel sections 26 and 27 for engagement with the fabric and a low surface 80 which acts to position the levers and rods to retract the hooks to the interior of the reel sections to release the fabric.

At the start of a fabric knitting cycle the fabric is tensioned by the hook bar 18 of the draw-off device 16 which is attached to the starting courses of the blank as hereinbefore set forth. At this time the shaft 25 is held against rotation by engagement of a pawl 81 with a ratchet 82 secured to the shaft 25. As knitting of the blank progresses it is carried above the reel sections of the draw-elf device 24 and when the bar 18 reaches a position intermediate the draw-off shafts 22 and 25, the pawl #31 is released from the ratchet S2 to permit the weights 28 to rotate shaft 25 and reel sections 26 and 27 to engage a row of hook members 29, which are at this time in a projected position as determined by the high surface of one or the other of cams 56 and 61, with the fabric. Following engagement of the hook members 29 with the fabric the hooks 19 of the bar 18 are disengaged from the fabric and the draw-off shaft 22 is arrested in the position shown in FIG. 1 by pawl and ratchet means which is not shown herein but which is similar to the pawl 81 and ratchet 82 associated with the shaft 25, shown at the left of FIG. 2, until the start of the next fabric blank. Thereafter as the shaft 25 is rotated the high surfaces 77 of cams 56 and 61 act to turn each rod 59 to project the hook members 2% thereon outwardly through the openings 33 in the outer shell 40 slightly before the hook members are in position to engage the fabric. As the shaft 25 continues to rotate the hook members engage and then remain in engagement with the fabric to tension the fabric until the levers ride from the high surfaces 77 of the cams to the low surfaces of the cams to retract the hook members 29 into the outer shell 40 to disengage and release the fabric into the receptacle 31. Following completion of the fabric it is knit off the needles 15 and the shaft 25 is manually rotated in the take-up direction until the remainder of the fabric is discharged into the receptacle.

Of course, the improvements specifically shown and described, by which the above described results are obtained, can be changed and modified in various ways without departing from the invention herein disclosed and hereinafter claimed.

What is claimed is:

1. A fabric draw-off mechanism for a knitting machine for tensioning and taking up fabric knitted on said machine including (a) a rotatable shaft,

(b) means for rotating said shaft in a fabric take-up direction,

(c) a reel member mounted on said shaft for rotation therewith,

(d) hook members,

(e) rotatable means for mounting said hook members in said reel member,

(f) means for operating said rotatable mounting means to move said hook members from retracted positions within said reel member to projected positions beyond the outer surface of said reel member for en gagement with said fabric and to return said hook members to said retracted positions to disengage said hook members from said fabric, and

(g) openings in said steel member through which said hook members are moved between said projected and retracted positions.

2. Mechanism according to claim 1 in which said means for operating said rotatable mounting means includes a cam for operating said rotatable mounting means to move said hook members to one of said positions and spring means for operating said rotatable mounting means to move said hook members to the other of said positions.

3. Mechanism according to claim 1 in which said mounting means is operated by said operating means to move said hook members between said projected and retracted positions during each rotative movement of said reel member.

4. A fabric draw-off mechanism for a knitting machine for tensioning and drawing off fabric knitted on said machine including (a) a rotatable shaft,

(b) means for rotating said shaft,

(0) a reel member,

(d) means for mounting said reel member on said shaft for rotation therewith,

(e) hook members in said reel member,

(f) means for moving said hook members along an arcuate path to retracted positions within said reel member during a portion of each rotative movement of said reel member to disengage said hook members from said fabric, and

(g) means for moving said hook members along said arcuate path to projected positions beyond the outer surface of said reel member during another portion of each rotative movement of said reel member for engagement with said fabric.

5. Mechanism according to claim 4 in which said hook members are carried on a rod and said rod is mounted in said mounting means for said reel member on said shaft, and there is spring means for operating said rod to move said hook members to said retracted positions, and cam means for operating said rod to move said hook members to projected positions beyond the outer surface of said reel member.

6. A fabric draw-off mechanism for a full-fashioned knitting machine for tensioning and taking up fabric knitted on said machine including (a) a shaft,

(b) means for rotating said shaft in a fabric take-up direction,

(0) flanges fixed to said shaft for rotation therewith,

(d) a reel member secured to said flanges,

(e) a plurality of rods mounted for oscillating movement in said flanges,

(f) hook members secured to said rods,

(g) means for oscillating said rods in one direction to move said hook members thereon from retracted positions within said reel member to projected positions beyond the outer surface of said reel member to engage and tension said fabric and for oscillating said rods in a direction opposite to said one direction to move said hook members thereon from said projected positions to said retracted positions to disengage said hook members from said fabric during rotation of said shaft by said rotating means, and

(h) openings in said reel member through which said hook members on said rods are moved between said projected and retracted positions.

7. Mechanism according to claim 6 in which said means for oscillating said rods to move said hook members thereon between said projected and retracted positions includes cam means, a member fixed on each of said rods and having following engagement With said t5 cam means, and spring means on each of said rods for maintaining said members thereon in following engagement with said cam means.

8. A method of operating a straight bar knitting machine having means for knitting a flat selvaged fabric blank, a first draw-off means for drawing off said fabric blank along a predetermined path as it is knitted by said knitting means, and a second draw-01f means below said predetermined path, said second draw-off means including a rotatable reel, a plurality of rows of hook members spaced circumferentially around said reel, means for rotating said reel in a fabric draw-off direction, and means for successively moving said rows of book members from retracted positions within said reel to projected positions beyond the out-er circumferential surface of said reel and for again moving said hook members to said retracted positions as said reel is rotated in said draw-off direction, including the steps of (a) attaching said first draw-off means to starting courses of said fabric,

(b) operating said first draw-off means to draw off said fabric along said predetermined path as it is knitted and until said fabric passes said reel of said second draw-off means,

(c) starting rotation of said reel and moving each of said rows of hook members from said retracted positions in said reel to said projected positions and then engaging each projected row of said hooks with said fabric in said predetermined path as said reel is rotated,

(d) disconnecting said first draw-off means from said fabric after said projected rows of said hook members are in engagement with said fabric, and

(e) moving each said row of book members to retracted position to disengage said fabric after at least one succeeding row of hook members is engaged with said fabric.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,402,074 6/1946 Nield 26-57 2,533,218 12/1950 Brooks 19-128 X 2,916,899 12/1959 Hepp et al. 66-149 3,086,561 4/1963 Kimura 139257 MERVIN STEIN, Primary Examiner.

RUSSELL C. MADER, DONALD W. PARKER,

P. C. FAW, Assistant Examiners. 

1. A FABRIC DRAW-OFF MECHANISM FOR A KNITTING MACHINE FOR TENSIONING AND TAKING UP FABRIC KNITTED ON SAID MACHINE INCLUDING (A) A ROTATABLE SHAFT, (B) MEANS FOR ROTATING SAID SHAFT IN A FABRIC TAKE-UP DIRECTION, (C) A REEL MEMBER MOUNTED ON SAID SHAFT FOR ROTATION THEREWITH, (D) HOOK MEMBERS, (E) ROTATABLE MEANS FOR MOUNTING SAID HOOK MEMBERS IN SAID REEL MEMBER, (F) MEANS FOR OPERATING SAID ROTATABLE MOUNTING MEANS TO MOVE SAID HOOK MEMBERS FROM RETRACTED POSITIONS WITHIN SAID REEL MEMBER TO PROJECTED POSITIONS BEYOND THE OUTER SURFACE OF SAID REEL MEMBER FOR ENGAGEMENT WITH SAID FABRIC AND TO RETURN SAID HOOK MEMBERS TO SAID RETRACTED POSITIONS TO DISENGAGE SAID HOOK MEMBERS FROM SAID FABRIC, AND (G) OPENINGS IN SAID STEEL MEMBER THROUGH WHICH SAID HOOK MEMBERS ARE MOVED BETWEEN SAID PROJECTED AND RETRACTED POSITIONS. 